English Heritage is urging us all to vote for Stonehenge in a global competition to define the new 7 Wonders of the World. The pyramids have been put through automatically, leaving 21 contenders including the Stature of Liberty and Sydney Opera House.

Voting closes next month and Bernard Webber, the man organising the whole shebang, said this of his visit to Britain:

If only the cars and trucks weren’t there to disturb the silence deserved by this very old, in fact the oldest monument on the 21 finalists list. It was built by humans almost 5,000 years ago, before iron was invented and most probably before they even had the wheel to transport those huge blocks (some weigh over 50 tons) many, many miles…This takes me to the limit of my imagination. It is Stonehenge’s simplicity, reduction to the minimum that is so impressive and inspiring.

Photo from Sleep-Less in Flickr.

Soho Foundry image copyright 2007 Ted Rudge.
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Expect interesting developments over the next couple of years for Soho Foundry, a place which Simon Baddeley describes as “part of a Silicon Valley of the 18th century”. (The picture was taken by Ted Rudge a few days ago)

Simon and the Friends of Black Patch Park have recently visited the foundry after a campaign to secure the future use of the park as, well, a park. The park and the foundry sit opposite each other on the borders of Birmingham and Sandwell and recently Sandwell Council agreed to reverse their plans to turn parts of the park over for industrial use. It comes at the same time as the local authority is looking for a new future for Soho Foundry based on it’s critical place in world industrial heritage. It is where James Watt crafted the steam engines which powered a global industrial revolution and you can read more of the visit to the foundry here:

Its brick shell is next to the old Birmingham canal that served it - visible through an iron bridge colonised by buddleah. The canal basin that served the foundry was filled in long ago.
Warned to stand back for fear of falling masonry we peered in at its dappled spaciousness - the grumble of metal recycling in an adjacent yard resonated in the background. We took pictures, asked questions and strolled the surrounding dereliction, glancing south to the tree tops of the Black Patch.

You can also listen to the cabinet member responsible for the Foundry talking to Simon about how heritage is the future for the park and the foundry if you click here.

The picture of the Jewellery Quarter in 1976 (yes just 30 years ago) is one of hundreds of extraordinary images you can browse online from Keith Berry. He describes the stash of images as:

A selection of my scanned photographs and slides taken between the 1960s and 1990s, in and around Birmingham,
Bromsgrove, Smethwick, West Bromwich and Walsall. You are welcome to add comments about, and personal
reminiscences of, the streets and neighbourhoods depicted. Many thanks to those of you who have already done so,
as it very much helps to fill in the fine details.

To look through them please go here. If you like what you see why not vote for this on upyerbrum. Hat tip to Brum Blog.